United Airlines Upcycles Old Uniforms into Non-Medical Face Masks for Employees

United Airlines has been upcycling the old uniforms into face masks for employees. The airline had collaborated with upcycling partner Looptworks – a company that previously helped Delta upcycle 350,000 pounds of old uniform into fashion accessories.

A surplus of uniform stock has been upcycled by the airline into 7,500 non-medical face masks, which have been donated to workers in the United’s maintenance base at San Francisco International Airport.

This step has been taken as a necessity and in line with direction from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to wear face masks in public spaces when social distancing is not possible.

The original plan was to transform the old surplus stock of uniforms into the carpet padding and insulation fiber. However, the pandemic struck and the airline decided to transform the surplus stock into masks.

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United says that they are meant to supplement the face coverings that it already provides all employees. Around 12,284 pounds of uniform has been upcycled up till now for this project.

This was an opportunity to do something extra for our employees to keep them safe while also staying true to our commitment to be one of the most sustainable airlines in the world. Recycling these unused uniforms into masks is a natural extension of our broader effort to overhaul our cleaning, social distancing and mitigation measures to ensure we’re doing everything possible to keep our employees and our customers safe.

Said Janet Lamkin, United’s SVP and president for California.

United Airlines has made the wearing of face masks obligatory for flight attendants on April 24 and has expanded that requirement to passengers on May 4. However, the airline has moved away from the idea of onboard social distancing.

Via: Business Traveller